James Wood

Within International SOS, James is our lead security expert in Northern Europe. In this role, James provides strategic security advice, guidance and support to our clients throughout the region on all aspects of our Security service delivery. Prior to this, James led our global Security Consulting Practice between 2019 and 2022, where he oversaw the security consulting support we provide our clients through our services, including consulting on Travel Risk Management, Crisis & Escalation Management, Security Incident Response, Business Continuity and Security Intelligence. He also led a team of 35 security experts who focus on expert consulting engagements with clients in their geographic regions of responsibility, as well as thought leadership, operational delivery and oversight and delivery of our solutions.

A certified Business Continuity expert through the Business Continuity Institute, James joined International SOS in May 2011 as Coordinating Security Manager for the Asia Pacific region where he supported clients during security incidents such as violent unrest in northern Papua New Guinea, Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines and flooding in Jakarta.

He subsequently moved, in September 2014, to the role of Regional Security Operations Manager in the Europe Regional Security Centre, with a focus on Europe, Central Asia and West & Maghreb Africa. In 2015, James moved to London where he helped to set up the 24/7 Security Centre. In this role, he oversaw a 24/7 team of security specialists and managed the operational advice and crisis management assistance provided to clients throughout the region. As part of this role, James also oversaw the business continuity of the 24/7 team, ensuring continuous service and support to our clients, developing, and refining processes to meet our clients’ needs. In this role, James oversaw the company’s security support to client Crisis Management and Business Continuity Teams and the evacuations of their employees during escalations in locations including UK, Germany, France, Belgium, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Burundi.

Between July 2017 and December 2018, James was the lead security consulting resource in the UK & Ireland and latterly EMEA, working closely with clients at a strategic level to ensure appropriate support to their Risk Mitigation and Resilience teams.

Prior to joining International SOS, James was a police officer with Thames Valley Police, UK. Having spent time as a uniformed officer in Oxfordshire dealing with incidents ranging from large scale protests to murders, he then moved to a specialist detective unit investigating acquisitive crime throughout the southeast of England. While in this post he also organised and conducted surveillance, investigation, and disruption operations, gathering intelligence and targetting Organised Crime groups throughout the Thames Valley area and with other UK police services.

James has a BA (Hons) in French and History from the University of Warwick, specialising in French foreign policy and American politics and is a member of both the Security Institute and the Business Continuity Institute.